Daniel Durant played a critical role in this year’s Super Bowl pre-game festivities.
The CODA actor performed the national anthem in American Sign Language (ASL), alongside Grammy-winner Reba McEntire as she sang “The Star-Spangled Banner.”
Sharing the news on Instagram, Durant wrote that he was “excited and honored” about the impending performance, and thanked the National Association of the Deaf and NFL for making it happen.
This was just one of many performances that kicked off the 2024 Super Bowl, all of which included deaf performers joining the singers onstage. Additional pre-game festivities saw Post Malone singing “America The Beautiful,” with Anjel Piñero signing in ASL, and Andra Day handling vocals for "Lift Every Voice and Sing," a tune often dubbed the Black National Anthem, while Shaheem Sanchez signed along.
Sanchez will return to the stage later in the night when Usher headlines the Apple Music Super Bowl LVIII Halftime Show.
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Durant is best known for roles in the Deaf West revival of Spring Awakening and CODA, the emotional 2022 Best Picture winner about a musical girl who is the only hearing member of her family.
He recently competed on Dancing With the Stars season 31, where he met his now-fiancee and then-dance partner, Britt Stewart. The duo, who began their relationship after being eliminated from the show, got engaged late last year. Durant also appeared on Switched at Birth, You, Chicago Med, and Florida Man.
Watch McEntire and Durant perform the national anthem at the Super Bowl below.
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